I exercise by running/walking at least six days a week. When I get done exercising my clothes are usually quite filled with "sweat". It is always enjoyable to "put off" the sweaty clothes and "put on" the clean, fresh ones.
As I was reading Colossians 3 regarding the "putting off" of the old carnal habits - anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy... of the old man and the "putting on" of the new habits of the new man I thought "I wish it was just as easy to change our natures as it is to change our clothes. Then I realized afresh that I don't have to change those carnal habits because God in Christ did it for me. "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering..." This is the character of the new man. The key is that we have been elected by God to walk in newness of life. It was nothing we did or could even choose to do.
In this life, we will still struggle at times and there will be a battle between the new man and the old man. The good news is that God has given us the character of the new man and we can choose to "put off" those carnal habits when we see them raising their ugly heads at us.
The Lord has already dressed us in clothes of righteousness. He has cleansed us through the blood of Christ. Therefore, let us walk in the newness of that life and rejoice in the character that God has placed in us through Jesus Christ.
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1 comment:
Great words! How easy it is for me to fall into trying to work to make myself more loving, kind, patient, holy etc...forgetting that Christ has already done this in and for me.
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